Philadelphia Union rout Sporting KC, 4-0

The Philadelphia Union wasted little time — barely a minute — going up on Sporting Kansas City on Saturday. Turns out, it was only getting started.

Sporting KC concluded a coast-to-coast two-game road trip in uninspiring fashion, falling 4-0 in Philadelphia. In stopping Sporting KC, the Union ended a seven-game league winless streak and gave its visitors their first shutout in six MLS matches.

“It’s embarrassing, coming in here obviously the effort wasn’t good enough,” defender Chance Myers said. “4-0 is a slap in the face.”

Jack McInerney scored twice for the Union, including a close-range strike in the first minute of play after a scramble in front of the net.

McInerney padded the Union’s lead just before half on an unassisted goal in the 43rd minute to go up 2-0. On the play, Freddy Adu sent a free kick from the left side that landed in a crowded box where McInerney beat the Sporting KC defense for another close-range finish.

In the second half, Sporting KC turned up the pressure on the Union’s backline, but in the first 10 minutes, Union defender Carlos Valdes was there to clear Sporting KC’s attempts just when opportunities seemed to open up.

Teal Bunbury saw two opportunities open up, still down 2-0. In the 62nd minute, he received a header from Kamara at the mouth of the goal but shot just wide. Minutes later, Bunbury took a shot at the top of the penalty area, but this time was denied by Valdes. Graham Zusi would also be denied a goal when MacMath made a diving save on his 75th minute free kick.

Their chances appearing to have dried up, Sporting KC conceded the game for good when Philadelphia tacked on two more goals in the final 10 minutes — a penalty kick by Lionard Pajoy (81) and a dagger from Antoine Hoppenot assisted by Michael Farfan in the 87th minute.

At 9-4-2, Sporting KC remains one point behind D.C. United in the Eastern Conference.

Sporting KC returns to Livestrong Sporting Park to resume the U.S. Open Cup with a quarterfinal match against the Dayton Dutch Lions of USL PRO at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. MLS play will resume at 7:30 p.m. on Friday when Sporting KC hosts the Chicago Fire in an attempt to avenge May 12's 2-1 defeat.

“We have a lot of depth on this team and we are good enough to play whether it is a week apart or three days apart,” midfielder Michael Thomas said. “We just got a little bit unlucky tonight and they came out and took care of their chances. We just need to move on and get a couple results as quick as we can.”